Door Supervisor prosecuted for fraud and working without a licence - jailed for two years

09 July 2018

Last Thursday (5 July) at Liverpool Crown Court we successfully prosecuted Jack Clegg Walsh for working without an SIA licence. He was jailed for two years for providing fraudulent documents to obtain employment in the security industry, thus putting the public at risk.

Clegg Walsh pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and one of working as an unlicensed door supervisor. He was sentenced to two-years’ imprisonment for the most serious offence of adapting documents for use in fraud (reduced from three years, for an early guilty plea). He was also sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for the offence of making false representations and three months imprisonment for working as an unlicensed security operative. These sentences will be served concurrently.

Clegg Walsh was working at The Running Horses pub in St Helens in November 2017. He ran away from our investigators while they were doing routine licensing checks with Merseyside Police and they later identified him as Jack Clegg Walsh, who was working for Elite Security (NW) Ltd.

Pete Easterbrook, our Criminal Investigations Manager said:

"Jack Walsh intentionally misled his employers and broke the law by working without a licence. His behaviour also constitutes fraud and he is now having to face the serious consequences of his actions. This case should serve as a reminder to the industry that we will deal robustly with those who disregard the safeguards that regulation provides, and pursue any type of offending which affects our industry."

Walsh had applied to work for Elite Security (NW) Ltd under a different name and had given them falsified information. This included a licence number that was not his, an altered passport, and a photograph that matched the picture on the passport he produced.

Our investigators conducted enquiries which confirmed that Jack Clegg Walsh had been refused a licence on the grounds of previous criminality. Further investigation secured documents that were analysed by the National Document Fraud Unit, who concluded that the copy of the passport that Jack Clegg Walsh had presented to his employer was falsified. This was supported by witness evidence that showed that the employment document had also been counterfeited."

Our investigators contacted the original licence holder, who supported us as a witness, confirming that he was the genuine holder of the door supervisor licence which Jack Clegg Walsh had claimed to be his. The genuine licence has since been replaced.

The judge, (Recorder Jeremy Lasker, who presided over the case, in summing up said:

"This was a carefully thought-out fraud; sophisticated in the sense that you put a good deal of spadework into finding a donor identity and altering a relative’s licence and documents you were to use."

"There has been, as a result, some financial loss…the real concern here is public safety and the fact that through dishonest means, you took up regulated employment when you knew you would not be regarded as fit and proper to do so."

The Security Industry Authority is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the United Kingdom, reporting to the Home Secretary under the terms of the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Our main duties are: the compulsory licensing of individuals undertaking designated activities; and managing the voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme.

For further information about the Security Industry Authority or to sign up for email updates visit www.sia.homeoffice.gov.uk. The SIA is also on Facebook (Security Industry Authority) and Twitter (SIAuk).​​​​​​​​​